Second Arakan 1943-44: Shattering the Myth of Japanese Invincibility in Burma

A detailed examination of one of the crucial campaigns of World War II in Burma, in which British and Commonwealth forces achieved their first decisive victory over Japanese arms.

The hard-fought Second Arakan campaign was a second attempt by Allied arms to advance in the coastal Arakan region in western Burma, following a failed first effort in early 1943. The battles fought shattered the myth of Japanese invincibility that had for over two years crippled the Allied cause, and for the first time offered the prospect of successful offensive operations against the Japanese in Burma.

Military historian Tim Moreman examines the wide range of actions that made up the Second Arakan campaign, from XV Indian Corps’ initial push down the Burmese coast towards Akyab Island, to the key events of the major Japanese Ha-Go operation launched by Twenty-Eighth Army. These include the Battle of the Admin Box near Sinweyza, where the surrounded 7th Indian Division inflicted a serious defeat on the Japanese 55th Division; the reinforcement of Imphal and Kohima; and the seizure of Razabil, the Tunnels and Point 551 between March and May 1944.

Packed with maps, diagrams, battlescene artworks and photographs that guide the reader through this complex campaign in easy to follow detail, this work provides a must-have illustrated companion to this decisive victory for British and Commonwealth arms over the Imperial Japanese Army.

Tim Moreman is a freelance military historian living in Somerset, who was formerly a Lecturer in War Studies at King’s College, London and briefly Resident Historian at the Staff College at Camberley. Tim has written a series of academic and popular books on the Indian Army and counter-insurgency, as well as contributing articles to various academic journals.